Newsletter date: 3 July 2015
Contents:
* Analysis / Opinion: Michele Madigan, Eureka Street: The Government's retrogressive Indigenous Advancement Strategy
* Petition: Sr Michele Madigan, Chairperson Kaurna/ Narungga Elder Dr Alitya Rigney & Josephite SA Reconciliation Circle:
Petition: Restore Funding Needed for South Australian Aboriginal Communities' Survival
* News Analysis: Sarah Whyte, Fergus Hunter, Sydney Morning Herald: The fight to save phone line helping prevent Aboriginal deaths in custody
* News Analysis: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Western Australia to introduce Custody Notification Service - at long last
* Video: Respect and Listen, Vimeo: Stop the forced closures of Aboriginal Communities - Aboriginal Medical Service in Western Sydney: https://vimeo.com/132010222
* Homepage: Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney: http://amsws.org.au/
* Media Release: Federal Government forcing closure of Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney, putting lives at risk
* Petition: Petition to Save the Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney from forced closure by the Federal Government
* Background:
WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget
WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA (and NT?)
WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody
WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
- Analysis / Opinion
Eureka Street: The Government's retrogressive Indigenous Advancement Strategy
http://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=45168
29 Jun 15: "This week sees the new budget allocations for Aboriginal communities take effect, with deep soul-destroying cuts being spun as 'advancement'. They reflect a redefinition of reality faced by many Australians, ... The very next month Aboriginal Communities throughout South Australia were informed they had been ‘successful’ in their funds application (yes, that was the word used by officials from the PMC). Their success had been in attaining just 10 per cent or less of the funds needed to administer the communities and provide the programs which make them viable. July 1st is the beginning of these new budget allocations, or lack thereof, under the title of Indigenous Advancement Strategy. ... " Michele Madigan, a Sister of St Joseph who has spent the past 38 years working with Aboriginal people in remote areas of South Australia and in Adelaide. Her work has included advocacy and support for senior Aboriginal women of Coober Pedy in their campaign against the proposed national radioactive dump.
- Petition
Petition: Restore Funding Needed for SA Aboriginal Communities' Survival
Sisters of Saint Joseph: http://www.sosj.org.au/news-events/view_article.cfm?id=2413&loadref=7
Change.org: https://www.change.org/p/mr-nigel-scullion-minister-for-indigenous-affai...
14 May 15: "How can SA Aboriginal Communities remain open with 90% slashed off the required funding? This is the question that needs asking of the Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion who has repeatedly said of late that he ‘has no intention of closing Aboriginal Communities.’
No organisation, no small business and certainly no Community can stay open when it loses most of its income! SA Aboriginal Communities have been successfully running essential and effective programs for years providing opportunities for training, support, activities for children and youth, employment for local people, and many other types of community programs designed and run for the Communities by the Communities. With no funds for programs and administration /governance, how can Communities remain open? ...
Sign the petition below to restore the IAS [Indigenous Advancement Strategy] funding that South Australian Aboriginal communities require to stay open and sustainable. ... "
Sr Michele Madigan, Chairperson Kaurna/ Narungga Elder Dr Alitya Rigney & Josephite SA Reconciliation Circle
- News Analysis
Sydney Morning Herald: The fight to save phone line helping prevent Aboriginal deaths in custody
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/the-fight-to-save-...
1 Jul 15: "A life-saving Indigenous custody hotline has received a last-minute funding commitment from Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, who also called for the service to be rolled out nationally. Senator Scullion committed $263,000, roughly half the Custody Notification Service's annual operating budget, on the day funding for the hotline, which operates in NSW and the ACT, was due to expire. ... the future of the CNS is far from assured. The NSW government is resisting the call to fund the other half of the $500,000 budget for this "vital service". ... " Sarah Whyte, Fergus Hunter
- News Analysis
The Stringer: Western Australia to introduce Custody Notification Service - at long last
http://thestringer.com.au/western-australia-to-introduce-custody-notific...
24 Jun 15: "Not there yet, but getting there – the long haul to introduce the Custody Notification Service in Western Australia – where it is truly needed has culminated in the announcement today that the CNS will soon be implemented. Most importantly the Custody Notification Service will help all those far too many people who are arrested and detained in police lockups. The Custody Notification Service will also be welcomed by the Western Australian Police Union of whom many of their members believe the CNS protocols will relieve many of their officers of a heavy burden of judgement calls they should not have to make – on health, welfare and legal issues. ... " By Gerry Georgatos
- Bio
Gerry Georgatos - The Stringer
http://thestringer.com.au/gerry-georgatos-contributing-editor-and-journa...
"Gerry Georgatos is a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, and a multi-award winning investigative journalist. His predominant work is in suicide prevention research and in unveiling racism and in articulating the ways forward. ... His social justice campaigns include his ongoing work with the homeless, asylum seekers, people in prison and post-release, his anti-drugs campaigns, fighting racism and discrimination, and his freedom of speech campaigns. ... "
- Video
Respect and Listen, Vimeo: Stop the forced closures of Aboriginal Communities - Aboriginal Medical Service in Western Sydney
https://vimeo.com/132010222
" ... Community closures are already happening - and not just in WA. The latest Commonwealth budget confirmed that there will be no ongoing funding for remote Indigenous communities anywhere in Australia. ... "
- Compilation
Respect and Listen compilation: [scroll down page] http://www.respectandlisten.org/landrights/homeland-closures/protests/sy...
- Homepage
Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney: http://amsws.org.au/
- Media Release
Federal Government forcing closure of Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney, putting lives at risk
http://amsws.org.au/media/docs/amsws_media_release_26th_june_2015.pdf
- Petition
Petition to Save the Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney from forced closure by the Federal Government
http://amsws.org.au/media/docs/petition_to_save_amsws.pdf
- Background
WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-aboriginal-peoples-a...
(last updated: 2 July 2015)
WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA (and NT?)
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/08/background-plans-to-close-aboriginal...
(last updated: 2 July 2015)
WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-justice-reinvestment...
(last updated: 2 July 2015)
- - -
WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
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'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:
* The Freedom Summit's National Freedom Movement;
* the Australian Federal government intervention into Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal communities;
* Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA), [and Northern Territory (NT)?];
* Treaties with Aboriginal Sovereign Nations of Australia;
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* Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody;
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* Suicide and self-harm in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities;
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* upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia.
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